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The authors of this book propose to familiarize the reader with the application of psychoanalytic technique and psychodrama in treating adolescents, predominantly inpatients, suffering from psychotic, conduct, post-traumatic, and borderline personality disorders In general, they omit reference to psychiatric disorders (e g, impulse dyscontrol disorder) which could be etiologic to the development of the patients' symptoms and to the potential use of adjunctive medication. Nevertheless, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy of the Severely Disturbed Adolescent contains a broad review of analytic theory and thought-provoking clinical material, and for this reason I recommend it for those working with this population
In the Foreword, Anastasopoulos appropriately warns us that “psychotherapists must be skilled in containing the anxiety and projections of adolescence, and possess the flexibility to respond to shifts in levels of development and.. regression” Anderson describes one extreme end of the spectrum of adolescent psychopathology as engendering “violent behavior, crime dangerous sexuality drug abuse,” with stresses emanating from parental separation, separation from extended family, and family mobility. She notes that psychological reorganization occurs in the context of hormonal change, physical growth, and fear of the potential consequences of one's instincts
The first chapter of the book is the weakest, because it is cluttered with dreams and interpretations unconvincingly focused on “thinking,” without adequate substantiation from the patients' associations Waddell presents a male adolescent, probably suffering from borderline personality disorder, who was raised by a